Love is the best medicine
by jad quiltex
Summary: The night before Twig and Cowlquape leave Sanctaphrax Cowlquape gets ill. Twig to the rescue! One sided Twig x Cowlquape... for now  might continue with extra chapters if people want


Cowlquape groaned as he tossed over in his bed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. He hadn't been feeling well at dinner the night before but now the pain in his stomach was excruciating. He rolled into a ball and clutched at his aching tummy, wishing with all his heart that Twig could be there with him. Twig was not there however, the young sub-professor of light had decided to take a walk around the block to calm his thoughts before bed.

That night had been an important one for them both as they had decided to go and look for Twig's missing crew that had been scattered about the Edge on their return from Open Sky. Cowlquape remembered haw happy he had been that Twig had insisted upon him coming along to help. Cowlquape firmly believe that he wouldn't be of use to the Sky Pirate captain but Twig certainly thought otherwise and had begged Cowlquape to join him in the quest.

Cowlquape was all too happy to be leaving the bullies of Sanctaphrax behind but he knew he would miss the great Library and all the knowledge it had to offer. It was around the time of realising he would have to leave behind many of his favourite bark scrolls that he had begun to feel ill the night before. He had assumed it was nerves, excused himself, and gone to bed. Twig said he wouldn't be long and had gone for a walk but Cowlquape had been listening to the mighty bells that rang out the time in Sanctaphrax and he know Twig had been gone for more than an hour.

He rolled up into a tighter ball with a grunt as an almighty spasm of pain ripped through his already tender stomach. Tears sprang to his eyes as he struggled to take deep breaths to fight his growing nausea.

Feeling the bile creep up the back of his throat Cowlquape knew he would have to get up and try and make it to the bathroom no matter how painful it might be to try and walk. With a loud moan of pain the young apprentice pulled himself into a sitting position and hauled himself to his feet.

Almost at once he regretted his actions as he bent over double and began to gag and retch with the horrible sickness. Very quickly he fell to his knees as vomit splashed onto the floor and over his knees.

As he fought for his breath Cowlquape heard the door to the small apartment in the top of the tower open and close.

"Cowlquape! What's wrong? What happened?"

Cowlquape heard a pair of boots move swiftly from the door to his side and felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder. Comforted a little he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked into the face of his mentor.

He saw such a touching look of concern on the older boy's face that he had to look away. Cowlquape began to blush as he felt the full shame of his illness hit him. He had been bullied all his life, first by his father and then the academics in Sanctaphrax but never had he felt such humiliation as he did right then, kneeling in his vomit in front of the person he admired and respected above all others.

He finally managed to find his voice, though it came out cracked and harsher than his normal, soft tones from the pain.

"Professor… I mean Twig, sorry. I don't know what happened….. I …. I just….."

His voice trailed to nothing as he felt his blush creep slowly to his neck and ears. Twig could see that the youth was getting embarrassed, though there was nothing to be ashamed of in getting ill.

He gently took Cowlquape by the upper arm and helped him to his feet.

"Well, looks like you need something new to sleep in at any rate."

After helping his apprentice to sit on the bed Twig went to the box of clothing that was kept at the end of the bed and extracted another sleeping shirt. He draped the shirt over the top of the screen they used for privacy when getting dressed and smiled at Cowlquape.

"Go on then." he said nodding towards the screen and clean shirt. A gentle smile playing on his lips. "Get yourself cleaned up and I will deal with this mess over here."

Cowlquape stood up silently and walked behind the screen and began to change into the clean shirt, face still crimson from embarrassment.

By the time Cowlquape had finished changing and thrown the dirty shirt into the washing pile Twig had managed to clean most of the floor with a bucket and mop that had been left in a store closet just outside their room.

He walked over to the bed and stood next to Twig, looking bashfully down at the floor as he spoke.

"Twig, I'm so sorry. I hadn't been feeling well as dinner. I just couldn't hold it anymore. Please forgive me."

Twig placed his hand gently on Cowlquape's arm again and steered him to lie down on the bed again. Pulling the covers up over his apprentice and placing a cooling hand on the younger boy's forehead Twig smiled.

"It's okay Cowlquape. I thought you weren't feeling well at dinner but I guessed it might just be nerves so I let you come and rest. Had I known how ill you were I would never had gone and left you all alone like that."

Twig found a chair and dragged it so he could sit at Cowlquape's bedside and watch over him.

"It's not your fault Twig! Please don't say things like that. I'm the one who should be sorry! I made such a mess and you had to come and clean it all up when you probably just wanted to go strait to bed. I'm sorry Twig, I'm an awful apprentice. I'm just making your life harder not easier!"

Placing his hand on Cowlquape's cheek and forcing the lad to look him in the face he said "No Cowlquape, you're a very good apprentice to me and I know that in the future you may not only make my life easier, but who knows, you may even save it. I don't want to hear you talking like that ever again, do you understand? You're not just my apprentice, you're my friend and I shall do my best to make sure you are safe and happy. Even if that means clearing up any mess you make, you see?"

Cowlquape blushed even harder as he took in Twig's words. He closed his eyes and snuggled down into the blanket. Sighing happily as he did so.

"Yes Twig. I understand, and I would do the same for you."

"Thank you lad. Now look, it's getting late and we have a big day ahead tomorrow so you should get your rest. Will you do that for me?"

Twig realised it was a bit of a useless question as Cowlquape was virtually asleep by this point anyway but he wanted to make certain that he wouldn't get an attack of guilt in the night and do something stupid that might make his illness worse.

Cowlquape looked sleepily up at Twig.

"Yes Twig." he yawned and stretched out in the bed feeling much better now, partly from relief at getting the illness out of his system and partly from the comfort that Twig was bringing.

Satisfied, Twig rose and walked over to his own bed, got undressed and slid in under the covers.

"Good night, Cowlquape. I hope you feel better in the morning."

Cowlquape rolled over and sleepily replied his feelings of thanks and said good night.

XxX

Many hours later Cowlquape woke from a deep dreamless sleep feeling much better. Though his mouth felt a little dry. It was still dark and there was little light entering the apartment from outside. There were no lamps on the inside the room but this wasn't too much of a problem. The room layout was simple enough and he felt confident he could make it to the sink and back without incident.

Quietly Cowlquape rose from his bed and tiptoed over to the basin on the wall near the door. He slowly turned the taps and got a trickle of water. He didn't want to turn the water up any higher as he thought it might wake his sleeping friend.

After washing his mouth out and having a deep drink the moonlight suddenly streamed into the room as the great rock upon which Sanctaphrax was built shifted slightly in a breeze. Cowlquape looked over at the newly illuminated form of his friend sprawled over the bed on his back and smiled. He had only known Twig for a short time yet he was already Cowlquape's favourite person in the whole of the Edge.

He walked over to Twig's bedside and looked closer at the sleeping boy. A mixture of feelings were going through his head. He felt a great respect and devotion, yet…. There was something else there too. As he stared intently at the young captain's lips he began to feel something else. A tugging feeling in his chest and an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

All at once Cowlquape began to wonder what it was like to kiss. He had never felt particularly bothered about kissing or anything of the sort. He had never found any girls he liked and never found any that had liked him either.

But this was different. He felt such a strong desire to feel the captain's lips pressed gently against his own. Cowlquape considered waking him, but that wouldn't really help. He couldn't tell Twig what he had on his mind and he still felt guilty about earlier that night, with his friend having to be the one who cleaned up the mess he had made. No, waking Twig was not the right answer.

Twig moved slightly in his sleep and let out a small low groan as Cowlquape sat gently on the bed next to him. As he heard the groan Cowlquape felt his breath hitch and start to come faster and heavier. He almost began to pant with what he shockingly realised was desire for his friend.

He had heard tell of men that enjoyed the company of other men in that way but he had never met one and certainly didn't believe he would have been one himself. Yet here he was sitting by his friend in the dark wishing that more than anything they could hold one another close, kiss… and who knows what else.

Taking a deep breath he made a decision. He leant down towards Twig praying that he wouldn't stir and discover what he was about to do.

"Forgive me Twig" he whispered as he leant in even closer, closed his eyes and pressed his lips on Twig's.

The older boy didn't stir throughout the entire thing. Cowlquape felt practically on fire with lust. His breathing was coming hard and fast, his motions jerky. He took a deep breath and stood up, ready to retreat to his own bed. Twig mumbled slightly in his sleep and turned over, his back now to Cowlquape and the rest of the room.

Cowlquape returned to his own bed. He found himself once again curled up in a ball with tears in his eyes. This time had nothing to do with feeling a pain in his stomach. This time the pain was in his heart.


End file.
